Funny story behind this picture... I was at Technical Crew (essentially the stage technicians for my school), and the Tech. Director runs in asking for someone with a camera to go outside. We all assumed there had been a car accident or something hilarious had happened, so we run outside to see what he was yelling about and we see the prettiest sunset ever. So, I run inside and grab my Nikon N9 with 28-105mm Nikkor Macro Lens and snap this. Shot on ISO 200 Film at f/ 5.6 and some shutter speed I don't know. Scanned 'em in and no post-corrections.

We went to the Oregon coast for the day, and I left my good camera at home since the weather was supposed to be wet, but as it turned out it was quite nice. So I grabbed my phone (a Samsung GS2 Epic Touch) and started shooting. When I shot this one, I didn't even realize that I was catching the reflection, since the sunlight was so bright I could barely see my screen. After some straightening in Picasa, and a touch of exposure reduction, I quite like the results - this one's probably getting printed up to put above the couch. Just more proof that it's not the camera that makes the shot, it's the moment.

- Brian Driver

I spent the weekend look for something to shoot with some reflection on it. This was the greatest picture, the reflection of the sunset on my window, with the view of my neighbor. Shot it with a Canon T1i, Canon lens 28-135mm, 3.5-5.6, 1/160, f5.6, ISO 200.

- Caio Arantes

Leica X1 f/16 1/30 ISO 100
I was walking around in the city, and I happened to notice a really cool reflection on the entrance machine (not sure what they're called) to a building. I snapped the picture, not expecting much, but it turned out pretty well so I did some editing in LR.

- Jeremy Cai

I was at the Highline Park in New York last Friday evening to practice some photography when I remembered the Gizmodo Shooting Challenge for the week. As I went around hunting for reflections, I found this nice glass pane that was by one of the entry stairs to the park. I sat myself down on the floor for roughly 30mins at that spot taking pictures when this particular pair came along. I had seen them around the park earlier that evening taking pictures and they had seemed to be arguing with each other a bit. After the guy jumped off of that little ledge, he extended his arm out to the girl, which I thought was very sweet on his part. Unfortunately for him, the girl apparently didn't want the help, and instead just glared at him and jumped off on her own. So much for chivalry!

The picture was taken with a Nikon D90 with f 11.0, 1/25s, ISO 500 at a focal length of 48mm on a 18-105mm lens. It was taken in RAW format and later edited in Lightroom which I've just started using and is actually a lot of fun to play around with.

For this challenge I opted to use a pair of headphones with chrome covers and a pair of Wayfarer knock offs. Being the consumate hipster doofus that I am, I figured I should arrange said items upon a pile of carefully selected vinyl, sure to appeal to fellow hipsters and create a very noisy background, I then lined up said headphones and cheap sunglasses so that my guitar that hangs on my bookcase was framed in the center of the headphones and the more prominent lens of the shades. Considered construction of a PBR beeramid, but really didn't wanna go to the effort as I don't shoot as well when I'm intoxicated.

I took this picture near my cabin in Northern Wisconsin yesterday. I set the camera down on the tracks without looking through the viewfinder. My goal was to exaggerate perspective.

- Erik Anderson

I am currently road tripping. It was a rainy day and was not leaving me very satisfied because the lens, unsurprisingly, didn't want to stay dry. I saw this bridge off the main road and had to stop. It was drizzling at that moment so I felt I could manage. It was a bit of a walk to the bridge since it's a walk/biking path. Got a few pictures and it started pouring suddenly. Scream and run with the camera back to the car.

- Andy Lindblom

I took this photo during my Tibet Expedition which I went with my friend last year.
We were travelling from Zangmu/Nyalam towards Tingri till I caught sight of this scene which I knew I had to stop the whole group for. As the group took a break, I whipped out my camera to take some shots. The skies in Tibet were clear blue, I still couldn't believe my eyes till now. Having born in Singapore which is a concrete jungle, I could rarely see the skies, not to mention the air pollution. So to a city boy like me, this scene was as if it was out of a storybook. The puddle of water reflects the skies perfectly, save for the blasting wind which caused some ripples on the surface but it turned out fine.

I had gotten up fairly early as I had planned on doing this shot for some time now. I was hoping for a clear morning however the weather had other plans. This is a shot overlooking Clover Island in Kennewick WA, with some minor PP done.

I am completing a semester abroad in Bordeaux, France and I immediately went to Le Miroir D'eau when I saw this shooting challenge! "The Mirror" is a a popular gathering place where people can simply relax on the adjoining lawn or run through the water feature for refreshment. As the semester nears its end, my new found international friends and I have spent several evenings here enjoying our final days together...as well as a couple bottles of wine. Getting the shot was an exercise in patience. I had to find the right moment when the fountains cycled off, other people were not frolicking in the water, and the local tram wasn't passing in front of the building. In the end, it was worth it and I will always cherish the memories of this place.

- Michael Mahoney

I work as an auditor in Auckland, New Zealand. Late nights are part of my job description and I walk past what you see in the photo every night after I finish work.

I recently invested in the D5100 and haven't had a chance to get myself a tripod yet.

The photo is of the National Bank building (glass panel exterior), which reflected the Sky Tower (iconic tower of New Zealand).

It took quite a few attempts without the tripod (see settings below) but I got it in the end.

This photo shows what an Irish Summer is really like, rainy! The sunglasses represent summer and the water drops on the window represent rain. Between the camera and the sunglasses was a double-glazed window, which also reflected the drops, making the photo look as if it was superimposed! I used a Canon 550D and the 18-55mm kit lens.

- Artur Chalyj

Used a Canon EOS Rebel T2i with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS in Manual Mode at 10 sec, f/22, ISO 100.

Inexpensive tripod and remote switch used to capture the dying light of the sun just after it dipped below the Santa Monica Mountains. The sunset and lights of the Santa Monica Pier reflecting in the glassy sand were mine alone as the half-dozen photographers and their tripods that had been crowding the beach moments before had packed up and left. Glad I hung around.

Went to the Bronx Zoo with some guys from work to enjoy the day and take pictures. I was walking through World of Reptiles and grabbed this picture.

- Allen Serhat

This was at Mirror Lakes in New Zealand; on the road from Te Anau to Milford Sound.
We were on a tour going to Milford Sound and stopped on the side of the road. We were sort of in a hurry so I captured this shot in literally 2.5 seconds after I changed a few settings around!

Canon Rebel T3i
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/200
Aperture: 8.0

- Gina Victoria

For this week's challenge, I decided to go around downtown Seattle and see if I could get any photos of the sky off Seattle skyscrapers' windows. I had trouble finding any buildings that gave a good reflection, so I decided to head home. On the way, I stumbled upon this reflection of "Urban Garden", a 27-foot-tall sculpture by Seattle artist Ginny Ruffner, and I realized that this reflection was actually better than anything I had originally planned to photograph, so here it is! It's taken with an Olympus E-PL1 at 61mm, 1/25 sec, f/4.1, and ISO 200. I did some brightness and exposure adjustments on Paint.net and Lightroom.

- Lucas Lin

This is an altar to the Great Lakes, Earth's largest fresh water resource. The photo was a collaboration between myself and artist Melanie Ariens. It was photographed in the storm drains of Milwaukee Wisconsin to raise awareness of water stewardship. The altars have been constructed in several varieties, this one being the Día de los Muertos themed version.

Shot with a Canon PowerShot ELPH 300HS from a tripod.
More of my underground work can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/undermke/

I'm a resident of the US, but I happened to be traveling in Venice when this contest came up - perfect timing, right?! After walking around all day, the night finally settled - and I suddenly became aware of the stillness of the water that had earlier been chopped up by the constant traffic of boats. This is definitely one of the more modern sections of Venice (wish I'd been in the older area - it doesn't look nearly Venetian enough), but it's beautiful in its own right.

- Todd Medema

I took this shot along the Bayou in the Bayou St. John area of New Orleans. This was the only morning I ever saw the Bayou so still, and I was floored by the soft dreamlike quality of the scene and the photo. Hope Y'all like it.

Nikon D5000
Nikon 55-200 kit lense
f/8
1/160 sec.
ISO-200

- Jason Scopp

I was walking through Central Park in NYC this past week when I noticed a nice thick layer of pond scum floating on top of the water. There were not many boaters out so the water was perfectly still. You can see the results for yourself. A perfect reflection of Bow Bridge and the surrounding Lake.

I took this shot using a Nikon D40, Nikkor 24-50mm lense. Not sure of the ISO settings that day, may have just had it on auto.

- Dalton Macdonald

Reflection shots are already interesting because they make your eyeballs do loop-d-loops, but taking away color can make this type of shot especially jarring. I took this at an abandoned auto-body shop near my home. It's been sitting empty for a while now, so most of the windows are shattered and graffiti covers a lot of the exterior walls. It's actually quite depressing in the context of the U.S.A. and our economy and whatnot. I didn't think about that while taking the shot, though. I was busy avoiding rocks being thrown at me by a feral group of children. It was an unpleasant experience.

Nikon D7000
Tokina 11-16 2.8 @ 16mm
ISO 640
Aperture 1/500
F. 6.3

- Nic Turiciano

- Bridgette Kistinger

Photo taken on iPhone 4s.

Walking along Liverpool Dockside at dusk and noticed the fantastic reflection in the water. The lights on the big wheel make the picture special.

- Dan Cobbold

This image was taken on a recent family outing to Disney World. This is at one of their resorts, Port Orleans Riverside. Taken using Canon T2i, with the kit lens 18mm-55mm.

- Scott Myers

Shot down on Lake Union in the middle of the night on my Canon EOS Rebel
TI with a Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 Aspherical lens on my last roll of Kodak
Ektachrome E100VS slide film.

- Tony Case

Shot with a Nikon D5100, Nikkor 18-105mm, ISO 160, f/8, 1/250
This was taken in the Manila Bay, Philippines at around sunset. This place in the city is really like a harbor/parking lot for yachts,cruise ships, and other small luxury boats, hence all those boats you see. My family and I were to have dinner at a restaurant across this view after a long day, and while waiting for the food, I just had to take a few shots from the bay. We had a really long day and it was nice to eat and relax while having a view like this. I also took some night shots of the cityscape but this turned out better.:)

- Czara Dela Rama

I shot these backpacking on Thursday the 31st. I was hiking out of Kennedy lake near Kennedy Meadows, CA in the emigrant wilderness. I woke up Thursday to see a beautifully lit hillside with a shaded lake that had some unbelievably clear water. Before I left to go backpacking I spent the day contemplating taking a larger camera (aps-c or full frame) but decided that packing in a couple platypus bags of wine would be better :-( I had no idea how gorgeous this alpine pass would be. The little S95 did pretty well.

I shot this pic on a canon s95 @ iso100 1/60th at f3.5... 6mm focal length.

- Tyler Jones

Camera Nikon D7000/Lens f/3.5-5.6 18-105mm/ Settings ISO 1600 - F/4

I accompanied my girlfriend on a photoshoot that she was on in this abandoned naval warehouse in Richmond, Ca. Got bored and proceeded to click away laying on empty spray cans and broken forties of OE. Clicked off about 5 different shots and came up with this one.

- Ben Rubio

Panasonic DMC-TS3
Fstop: 4.7
Exposure 1/80

Finally! Sun in Seattle!

- Liana Robertshaw

This is my first ever submission to the shooting challenge, and what prompted me to participate this time was that I instantly came to think of one of my old photos I took with my SonyEricsson K750i back in 2008. Already then it was old enough for buttons to fall off the keypad, and the shutter button on the camera was only working if you pressed it so hard that your finger turned white, but the optics were so much better than any phone camera I had previously owned. I was walking along the moat of the castle in the town where I live, with the water being entirely still, when a photo idea popped into my head. What you see in the picture is a reflection rotated by 180 degrees, and the objects which seems to float in the sky are flowers from a nearby cherry tree. The gradient in the sky is entirely caused by the reflection on the water surface. For added personal nostalgia, I decided to tweak the colour balance in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 before submitting.

- Simon Bjerkborn

This photo was taken with an iPhone 4S and the application "SlowShutter" (which drastically reduced the quality unfortunately).

Immediately after reading the contest rules, I looked to my right to find a seemingly perfect shot. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that this camera app couldn't save 8mp images, the quality is pretty bad. Both of my cats left shortly after I took the shot, I probably should've taken the photo with the default camera app.

- Ryan Scullin

so...i live in the Netherlands, Rotterdam

after an afternoon around the city with my camera hanging on my neck a little shower gave me the opportunity to use a puddle as a reflective tool...and a bird passed by :)

shot with a GH2 with canon fd 50mm f2 iso160 1/1000

- Davide Bellotta

it was taken at memorial day ceremonies in livingston, nj this past monday, may 28th. other band members are seen in the reflection off of the tuba's bell.

My dad and I were at the Denbigh Boat Ramp, at Newport News, Virginia (around sunset time) and I noticed the colors of the sunset (it would've been better if there weren't any clouds, too,) so I took this shot.